Much of the dust has settled over the release of the 2013 matric results.With a great deal of fanfare the top province and top learners were announced.The Minister of Basic Education has hailed Free State and North West as the “top performing” provinces based on their NSC pass rate. NAPTOSA Gauteng wishes to congratulate these provinces on their improved NSC pass rate,however, we are of the view that one cannot declare a province to be the “top performer” based solely on its overall pass rate.This pass rate is an indicator of quantity and says nothing about quality, subject selection or retention of learners to mention but a few of the relevant criteria when attempting to rank provinces. It must also be borne in mind that a ranking is not an indication of quality.

Salary Increase for 2014

There is speculation about the 2014 salary increase.At least one union has gone on record by announcing a specific percentage increase.Unfortunately while the figure given may be in the ballpark, it is not yet possible to announce the increase.The Resolution signed in the PSCBC in 2012 made provision for an increase this year based on the projected CPI for April 2014 to March 2015.The DBE has not yet announced this percentage.The Reserve Bank (and others) have forecast the CPI for 2014 but not the period above.The actual increase will be the projected percentage PLUS 1% and this will then be adjusted either up or down by the difference between the actual CPI for the past year.